The Truth About Becky Botsford
by superstarwordgirl
Summary: After a first kiss that begins perfectly and ends awkwardly, WordGirl realizes nothing is exactly how she tried to pretend she believed it was between herself and Tobey, but are things too complicated now for them to ever be together?
1. prologue

Introduction~

So, yes, I am using even though I swore never to. It just wasn't working out, trying to put the fic on dA, so here I am, here. I am feeling edgey about being on this website but I'm going to save the document after every little change I make just to be on the safe side. If I do that, nothing can go wrong. I will not be doing any editing to it here on this website though so if you notice any little mistakes, feel free to let me know and I'll change them. The spell check I use at home is different from this one, so. 'Kay now, proper intro...

Hey, there, everyone, I am back. And I'm really excited, because this is going to be a long story, unlike my first one, in which I was mostly just trying to keep things simple and light like the show. Well, not this time around, and it's getting me really pumped up. I have the lowest of expectations, but if people like this, I can easily say that it would be one of the best feelings in my entire life, because I put my entire heart and soul into this. So please tell me if you like it, and if you don't, then I suppose I can only say, I'm open to criticism. I don't like it, but if I ever wanna be famous someday, I guess I'd better know exactly what I need to work on, and I know I'm not close to perfect, so, yeah, I need reviews. Need. Serious. Will die without them. Do you want me to die?

Anyway, I have no idea if this story is brilliant or just crap. I tried to put in exciting and funny parts. Sometimes it gets really kind of serious. No way could I put anyone together without angst and tears and whatnot, I just like (fictional) drama, so sue me. But don't worry if things seem bleak, there's a happy, fluffy ending, and I'm crossing my fingers, hoping my readers will finish it and be like, "Awwww, this is THE cutest!"

This story is dedicated to anyone who has ever filled me up with inspiration. I can't possibly name all of you, and some of you I don't even know in real life. *Online pals, high five!* But you make me wanna write, and that's the best thing anyone can do for me.

All glory and praise goes to God.(:

And if this story is way too serious, please let me know. I tend to carry on sometimes with the seriousness.

~O~O~O~

_PROLOGUE~_

_Sunny, summer afternoon with a clear blue sky and a cool breeze. It was the perfect day to be fighting crime, fourteen-year-old WordGirl thought. Not too hot out, which was nice, considering how sweltering the week had been so far. And best of all, nothing she had to worry about getting back to as soon as she finished obliterating these robots. It was nice to not have the pressure to hurry back home so no one would get suspicious of her for once._

_Nothing was bothering her today, not even all of the big words Tobey was using from where he stood atop an abandoned building, trying to impress her as she grabbed one of his robots by the antenna and swung it around, knocking two others off their feet. And she and Captain Huggy Face were working perfectly in sync. Her sidekick leapt from her shoulders to pounce on the robots she'd just sent flailing to the ground and ensure that they wouldn't get up again._

"_Well, Tobey, looks like I'm about to win again," she said, tossing her head with a little smile. Even when she was looking at him, she could throw a punch to her right and put a good dent in the head of a robot that had approached her._

"_Oh, we'll see about that," he said, trying to sound confident even though her success at defeating him so soon was disappointing. He'd brought out twenty robots, hoping they'd keep her busy for at least fifteen minutes or so, also hoping maybe as she fought they'd talk and she'd come a little closer to openly liking him. For all of the trouble he got into for these little trips to the city, it certainly wouldn't be worth it if he didn't get to have at least one nice little moment with WordGirl._

"_Whatever you want to say," she said, turning away and grabbing another robot by the arm before it could step on a u-haul. Then she snapped off the arm and used it to smash the robot to the ground._

_Tobey tapped one of the buttons on his remote thoughtfully, wishing he could call more robots out from his home. At the moment they were a little low on supply as school had only been out for the summer two days and he hadn't had much time to build. The only other ones he had at home weren't finished yet. He didn't want this trip to have been for nothing, but what could he do? At the moment, he and WordGirl hadn't exchanged any words that he would lay awake smiling about as he played them over in his mind that night, but he couldn't think up any way to keep her around longer._

_At last she had destroyed all of the robots. She slapped the invisible dust off of her hands, looking around with satisfaction at seeing that nothing had been destroyed in the process of the battle. There were a few cracks in the pavement, but those could be repaired easily enough. _

_Then she turned to Tobey, who looked up to meet her stare with wide eyes, as if he was trying to appear innocent._

_She was about to say something clever to him now that she had won again, when Huggy leapt up from the rickety fire escape he'd been perched on and flung himself at Tobey. WordGirl said, "Okay then,"_

"_Get off, you filthy chimp..." Tobey sputtered, trying to pry Huggy's feet away from himself and keep a hold on the remote, but Huggy clung to Tobey's head and grabbed the remote from him, then just as quickly jumped away._

"_Menacing creature," Tobey muttered, brushing at his clothes and straightening his glasses as he ran after Huggy. WordGirl just watched, amused and smiling a little. She wasn't in any hurry to end this. Huggy would hold the remote tauntingly out to Tobey, and then Tobey would reach out to snatch it away, and Huggy would run circles around him._

_Finally Tobey gave up and stood there with his arms crossed as Huggy continued to bounce and flip around and he asked WordGirl begrudgingly, "Can you make him give me my remote?"_

"_Um, can you say the magic word?" she responded._

_He rolled his eyes with an immensely aggravated sigh. "Please?"_

"_Well, okay," WordGirl said. "If you take your robots home."_

"_I don't see how that's possible, since they're laying in mangled piles of scrap metal all over the street." Tobey said._

"_Oh, yeah, right, I forgot I completely obliterated them," WordGirl said. "Want me to dump 'em in your backyard?"_

_Tobey shrugged, defeated. "Just don't throw them on my mother's flowerbeds or she'll get mad at me." he said._

"_Okay," she said, zipping downward to grab all of the demolished robots and robot parts and crush them into a compacted hunk, then fly to Tobey's house to toss them into the backyard, all within a few moments. She remembered to be careful of the flower beds._

_She paused for just a moment here, because she could see her house from where she was. As her alter ego, Becky Botsford, she and Tobey lived in the same neighborhood. She spotted her little brother TJ on the lawn waving franticly and yelling, "It's WordGirl!" _

_She waved back once with a smile, then flew back to where Tobey was still on the building, glaring at her sidekick, who still had possession of the remote. Huggy was sitting a few feet away from Tobey, examining the remote with interest._

"_All taken care of," WordGirl said, her hands on her hips. "And you're welcome,"_

_Tobey sighed. "Thank you," he said, rolling his eyes a little that she'd just assumed he wasn't polite enough to thank her himself. Then he said, "Now, really, I need that remote back. I have to summon one of my robots from home to get me down off this building." He figured even if the robots weren't finished enough for battles, one could at least do the simple task of walking out into the city to fetch him._

"_Oh, no you don't," WordGirl said. "If I have anything to say about this, it's that you won't be getting to bring out any robots for a long time. If your mom doesn't already know about it, I'll tell her myself."_

"_But why?" Tobey whined, throwing his hands up._

"_Um, because I'm a superhero and that's my job? Also because I have another life to live as well and your antics usually interfere with it,"_

"_Well, yeah," Tobey said a little sheepishly, already abandoning the whininess. "But, you must enjoy it just a __little__ bit, right?" He looked a little hopeful._

"_I guess it's kind of fun to beat up your robots," WordGirl said thoughtfully with a shrug. Huggy disapproved of her answer a little._

"_And?" Tobey prodded._

"_And what?" she said._

_He looked down. "Well, I..."_

"_Hey, listen," she said, feeling a little bad about cutting him off, but she did want to get home now and didn't have time to get engaged in any conversations with him. Mainly because it would probably turn into and argument anyway, which she wanted to be a part of even less. "I actually should get home now," she said._

"_Alright, fine," Tobey said, disgusted at how little friendly interactions were going on at the moment. "But how am I supposed to get down?"_

_WordGirl sighed with exasperation. She certainly didn't want to have to get him down herself. "Fine, summon one of your robots already." she said. Then her voice took on a warning note. "But if you cause any trouble, you're gonna be __in__ trouble...even more than you already are."_

"_Fine." Tobey turned to Huggy to ask for the remote, but when he opened his mouth to speak, he just let out a shocked cry. "What are you doing?"_

_Huggy shrugged, the wires from the inside of the remote all yanked out and in tangled little bits at his feet. He chattered an answer, but Tobey just grew more hysterical. He didn't understand a word the monkey had said, anyway_

"_You've practically ruined my remote!" he cried. "I'm going to have to make a completely new one and then program all of my robots to respond to it and -"_

"_You mean what's __left__ of your robots?" WordGirl interrupted with a grin at Huggy, who returned it._

_Tobey turned back to her with her hands out. "Alright then!" he said bitterly. "If you're so smart, get me down yourself!"_

_Getting him down herself wasn't a matter of how smart she was, but she decided not to point this out to him._

"_Oh, come on, Tobey, can't you climb down the fire escape or something?" she said instead with crossed arms, but observing the frail metal frame, she wouldn't have climbed down it herself, if she were simply a normal person without flying powers like he was. _

_She didn't like this very much. She looked back up at Tobey, who had one eyebrow raised at her._

"_You did this on purpose!" she burst out. "So I'd have to carry you down!"_

_He grinned. "No, I didn't, it's just fate,"_

"_Fate?" she repeated with annoyance._

"_You don't know what it means?" he asked. "Because I do!" He even raised his arm in the air like a schoolboy waiting to be called on._

_She didn't even answer, just rolled her eyes, and that was enough of an answer for him to know to just shut his mouth._

_There wasn't any other ways that came to mind. With a groan, she flew over and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, and took Huggy up in her arms, then descended._

"_Can you at least bring me to my house?" Tobey said. He wished she would hold him in any other way than by the back of his vest. Even if she held him upside-down by the ankle, that would be slightly nicer than __this__._

"_Sure," she said, changing directions._

_As they went along through the sky in the open wind, Tobey looked down at the city below him and all of the cars on the streets and thought it would certainly be scary to fall, even though he knew WordGirl would never drop him; she could catch meteorites, she could certainly keep a safe hold on him all the way home._

_His neighborhood was now in sight. He asked, "Why does the monkey get to be in your arms while you hold me by the back of my shirt?"_

_He didn't get an answer right away. Then he heard her say from above, "That's just the way it is."_

"_Oh." he said. "Is it that way because you don't want anyone to see me in your arms and think you like me?"_

"_No!" she snapped, giving him a response right away that time. "I mean, come on. Do you think thoughts like that when I hold other people by the backs of their shirts? Do you think I like Mr. Big and Chuck and Seymour Smooth, too?" She was glad she'd thought that one up, it was a good thing to say to him, and it was certainly better than having a stupid answer that wasn't really a good answer at all or was full of "um's" and "uh's"._

"_I never said I thought you liked me," he said. "I just said you didn't want people to __think__ you like me. But they probably both mean the same thing to you, right?"_

"_Could you cut it out?" she asked, irritated. "This is a dumb conversation."_

"_You're just trying to change the subject," he informed her._

_She tried to come up with something clever to say, but nothing came to mind, so he took this little second of silence to say, "Speechless at how well I understand you, WordGirl?"_

_She groaned. "If I object, you won't believe me, so I'm not even bothering to answer."_

"_Is it because you can't say no, but you won't say yes?"_

"_Ugh, am I ever glad we're at your house now!" she said, quickening her speed and flying down to his yard then. He never knew when enough was enough, she thought._

_The velocity of the last bit of their flight made him feel a little dizzy, but soon enough he had the earth under him._

"_Well, thank you for the lift," he said to WordGirl good-naturedly, hoping they could part on a slightly lighter note._

"_You're welcome." she said, hovering in the air with Captain Huggy Face on her shoulders now. "And if you'll excuse me, I need to go inside and see your mommy for a moment."_

"_Hey!" he blurted out. "You don't need to call her my mommy as if I'm some sort of baby! And you don't need to be a tattletale either!"_

"_Yeah I do," she said._

_His hands were fists. "You think because you have superpowers and you're smart and beautiful you can go around and do whatever you want!" he burst out._

_She smiled. "Well, thank you for calling me smart and beautiful, Tobey, that was kind of sweet," she said._

"_Really?" he said. "I mean, you're welcome. But, um..." He had to say something. Say anything, to catch her attention and make her linger just a little longer. "Um..." he thought quickly, then blurted out, "You wouldn't happen to want to go out for ice cream, would you?"_

_She hesitated, and then caught herself. "I have places to be," she said._

_He sighed a little. Of course she would come up with an excuse. "Right," he said, squirming a little. "Uh, forget I asked...um..."_

_Huggy chattered with impatience, ready to leave now. He certainly wasn't impressed with Tobey's stuttering, or with WordGirl's hesitant answers, either._

"_Right, Huggy," she said, regaining her determined superhero attitude, as if she had completely forgotten that Tobey asked her to go out for ice cream and that she hadn't even been able to come up with an excuse not to right away. "We've got to be going." _

_She turned to Tobey one last time. "Please don't be causing trouble anytime soon, okay?"_

_Her tone wasn't bossy or controlling, and hearing her tell him that didn't make him annoyed with her at all, oddly. "Sure, fine," he found himself saying. Then he made a face at himself, because he didn't usually promise her he'd be good. He didn't ever, actually. She never asked him to, either, though._

"_Great," she said. "Um, see you," She turned to fly off when suddenly they all stopped and turned, because someone was running down the sidewalk at them, yelling._

"_Hey, wait!" It was Todd Scoops Ming, the reporter, holding his reporter's hat on his head as he jogged over._

_Huggy sighed._

_WordGirl could feel little sparks igniting inside. She didn't know why, Scoops never ever said the words she wanted to hear him say. But she couldn't help it if her heart jolted at the mere sight of him._

_Tobey was just thinking, of course __he__ would show up . . ._

"_Hi," WordGirl said apprehensively once Scoops reached the yard. She didn't want to get too excited. She was starting to figure him out, and she knew to be careful and not let herself get too caught up, because one minute he would have her trying to keep from blushing, and the next faking smiles with a sinking heart._

"_Hello, WordGirl," Scoops said, pulling out his little notebook. "Thanks for not leaving; I had to run really fast to make it here," he panted._

_Tobey just stayed off to the side, hands in his pockets and quiet. _

"_No problem," WordGirl said, thinking it was kind of nice to hear that he'd ran after her, even if not for the reasons she would have preferred he chase after her for. But she pushed the thought away._

"_So," said Scoops, pulling out his pencil with a flourish. "Tell me, how was it defeating twenty robots today?"_

"_Easy," WordGirl said._

"_Was it, really?" Scoops said thoughtfully. "Because I've been trying to come up with all sorts of theories, and one of them requires me to suspect maybe things aren't really as easy as you pretend they are. Tell me, are you exhausted right now?"_

_She made a face. "What?"_

"_Are you exhausted right now?" he repeated._

_She couldn't help it, briefly she turned around and gave Tobey a confused look, and he immediately shook his head with shrugged shoulders as if the reporter stupid beyond the point of hope. "Um, no," WordGirl said, turning back to Scoops and rolling her eyes slightly at Tobey's look. "I mean, maybe just a little winded, if anything, but definitely not -"_

"_Are you sure?" Scoops asked. "And now be honest with yourself," He winked._

_She was starting to feel defensive. "I am being honest." she said._

"_Hm, drat, that completely blows my theory," Scoops groaned._

"_What was your theory?" WordGirl asked with crossed arms._

"_Oh, never mind, it's worthless now," Scoops said._

"_Well, I guess," WordGirl said. "I would never pretend things are easier and I can't see why you think I would." She was annoyed because she'd had a feeling the conversation would turn into something like this as it always did. It was funny how she had memorized him when they were younger so she knew every detail of him by heart, and then sometimes she felt like he didn't even know her at all, or that maybe she didn't know him that well, either._

"_Gotta follow reporter's instincts, it might lead me to a great story," he said, as if that explained every unanswered question in the world. Then he said, "So, this is another battle with arch-enemy Tobey McCallister. How does it feel?"_

"_Um, fine," she said._

"_Was it an exciting battle?" he asked._

"_Sure," she answered, a little more brightly than she'd been answering his other questions. "It was a pretty quick one, but even if it hadn't been, I would have been okay. It's a nice day to be fighting crime _

_and -"_

"_Mm, I think that's all I care to ask right now," Scoops said abruptly, shutting his notebook and tucking it into his pocket._

_She blinked. "But don't you need to know more if you're going to put this story in the paper?"_

"_Nah, I've covered enough robot battles in the Daily Rag." he said. "This would probably bore my readers a little. I need something new and exciting. Robot battles are old news."_

"_Oh." she said. Behind her Tobey rolled his eyes._

"_Yeah. Mainly I just came over to test my theory." Scoops said, pointing his thumb at himself with a self-important smile._

"_I see." Her voice was soft. But she didn't see at all. The theory was just a nonsensical idea, and he obviously didn't think it was anything neat or exciting that she'd just taken down twenty robots in ten minutes. She felt he ought to have at least congratulated her on her win and complimented her or something._

"_Right!" he said. "So I'll see you around, WordGirl." He turned around and ran off before she could say goodbye back to him._

_She let out her breath with frustration._

_She couldn't help it, she was disappointed. It wasn't the first time she had been by him, but this boy could just run around and do or say whatever he wanted so carelessly and not even know that all she wanted was just a little attention and that every time he made her feel this way it broke down on her spirits just a little more. He couldn't see anything and she couldn't tell him anything. This time it weighed in her heart more than usual, because by now she felt a tiny prick of hopelessness._

_She had made up her mind that she wouldn't care anymore, but every time she got these little hints that he didn't care himself, it just hurt her somehow, no matter what she wished for. And for the first time she felt as though she wouldn't be able to put up with it much longer and she could feel the burning in her eyes. Being a teenager could really suck sometimes._

_None of this had bothered her when she was younger, at least not this much. It was so unfair, how you had to grow up and then everything had to be more complicated. She felt like it was wrong to let herself feel this way just because of a boy; she had always been fairly certain that she would never be that type of girl. But she was standing there and she couldn't recall ever feeling so low over him before._

_Tobey was still standing there, since he hadn't exactly felt like he should just leave though he hadn't quite wanted to stay through the interview either. He knew WordGirl had a thing for that reporter, which bothered him. But he could also see that the reporter could probably tell, and was choosing to pretend he couldn't, obviously uninterested in her; so that gave Tobey a little glimmer of hope. No way could she get together with him if he didn't even care about her._

_But he saw, as she still stood there and watched her friend walk away, the look on her face, and it wasn't hard to tell she was dispirited. She was mostly turned away from him, but he could see her blink fast for a moment, and he almost couldn't believe it. Strong, amazing, powerful WordGirl was maybe near tears because of some boy who didn't notice her the way she wanted him to, when if she wanted, she could easily have someone else in a heartbeat. It somewhat awed him and made his heart go out to her at the same time._

_Tobey thought to himself that if she ever loved him, he would never make her want to cry. It wasn't fair, that she could only see someone who saw right through her, and she herself couldn't see how much somebody else might care about her a lot more than she thought he did._

_He opened his mouth to say something; what, he did not know. But before he could, she turned to him, the sadness gone from her face and replaced with a look of wearisomeness. She held her monkey tightly in her arms and said, "Please stay out of trouble?" As if to remind him that a moment ago he had said sure, he would._

_He just nodded, and in a flash she was gone, leaving a sparkling trail in the air behind her, like shining glitter, but it faded to nothing and then she was out of sight._

_He stood in his lawn thoughtfully, wondering if he really would stay out of trouble for her. He'd done it before, but it hadn't quite turned out like he'd hoped, and everything had gone back to the way it had been before. Of course, there was nothing wrong with trying again, though. And if she was happy with him, maybe he wouldn't even need to try and get her attention in such reckless ways. _

_Maybe he could try it, for a little while. He could still __build__ robots, he thought, just not bring them out to play hopscotch or anything. Only if he seriously felt he needed to._

_It was almost a nice idea, he thought. He'd go for it. See what happened._

~O~O~O~

So, there's my introduction to the story. I have no clue how it will be recieved. But the next chapter takes place a little more into the futre.

Anyway, I really don't have any expectations for this story. I've been working on it so long I can't even tell if I think it's good or realistic or bad or really interesting or stupid or anything. But please review it, and if I come here to check up and have absolutely no reviews from anybody, I'll be plunged into doom and never write again. (And don't forget what I said earlier, I'll die without reviews. Keep that in mind.) Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this. See ya and God bless. ~ superstarwordgirl.


	2. chapter one

CHAPTER ONE~

Becky, Violet, Bob and Scoops were walking along the sidewalk together after school, talking. Their breath came out in clouds of frozen moisture, as the February air was chilly despite the lack of snow, and they were all bundled up in warm coats and scarves. Above the city skyscrapers, the sun was just beginning to sink in the atmosphere before them, its dusky light faintly touching everything with the colors of sunset. Despite the light's being faded, it shone directly at them and Becky squinted against it, keeping her eyes downcast to the frosty sidewalk.

"Anyway, I was thinking a good headline would be "Three Cheers for Valentine's Day!"' Scoops was saying. "Sounds corny, I know, but it sure grabs reader's attention, right?"

Bob was dubious, so he remained silent, thinking his attention was anything but grabbed, while Violet said supportively, "It sure grabs _my_ attention," She would have found a nice thing to say about anything, though.

"Uh-huh," was all Becky said, noticing how unusually quiet the streets seemed today. Around them, the only sounds were the cars that passed by and their footsteps on the cement. No cries for help coming from the distance or the sound of trouble being caused . . .

"Well, good to know." Scoops said at his friends' responses, not noticing that Becky and Bob hadn't exactly been encouraging. "It can be difficult to come up with the right headline."

Becky nodded and shivered a little even though she had on her warm coat, her eyes still downcast. The sidewalk was only wide enough for two to walk side-by-side, so she and Scoops were walking together in front of Violet and Becky's pet monkey Bob. She was feeling a little apprehensive because of the arrangement.

She wished the sidewalk was wide enough for all four of them to be together. Sometimes being with just Scoops or feeling like she was with just him as she somehow did now put her on guard, even when she was absorbed in her own reflections. She felt like she ought to be talking but there was nothing for her to say. And even if there was something to say, she had the feeling from him lately that the things she said weren't very interesting to him. So it was best to not say anything at all sometimes.

"I've already explained before how important it is to grab people's attention with a headline, right?" Scoops was saying. "See, if people look at a newspaper . . . "

She was only half-aware of his words. She knew he was talking about his paper. That was all that really mattered.

She was in a rather desolate frame of mind, which was unlike herself. Her thoughts kept returning to things that hadn't seemed to matter in a while, things that were dispiriting.

She blamed Valentine's Day, for coming around and being in her face everywhere she turned: all of the heart-shaped boxes of chocolate that reached into her mind and made her think about how she'd once imagined getting one from Scoops. All of the couples holding hands and planning their dates, all of the paper cupids hung up in the grocery store, all of the "I love you's" written out on every damn thing . . . everything was about love. And of course, that would prevail upon her to think about her own piteous love-life. She didn't have one.

Last year, when she'd still liked Scoops _that_ way, she had begun to feel that he knew how she felt, and that he purposely pretended not to know, just so he wouldn't have to deal with it. After laboriously analyzing memories of all of the awkward silent moments with him, times he'd looked away making a face when she'd smiled at him a little too long, it seemed impossible that he could have been _that_ clueless.

It had been different when they were kids, but now they were fifteen. He couldn't possibly be so blind at this age. She had to admit to herself he must have never really cared, even though her younger self had been giddy with the belief that he did, or at least was going to someday.

Her feelings for him had been fading away anyway, whether she _was_ invisible to him or simply being disregarded or whatever it was. The less obsessed she had become with silly ideas of how their first kiss would come about, the more she'd seen in him traits that made her doubtful of whether he was really the one for her or not. He was, in reality, another human being, just like everyone else. He wasn't superman. So her crush had dwindled to nothing and she had stopped caring a long time ago.

But today she found she felt sorry for her younger self, who had spent her time chasing after him and ended up alone. It was not that she still wanted him, because she didn't. In fact, she had never felt so at-peace as she did since she had let go of the situation, quit being anxious over everything involving him, and become content with things the way they were. She just felt unusually empty during this supposed-to-be-romantic time of year.

Valentine's Day, she thought, only made her feel that something was missing. She didn't want to feel that way. She certainly didn't want to end up chasing after someone and trying to figure out how serious he took her; not again. Not when she was finally done pitying herself over Scoops. It sounded unappealing. She thought that some people might call it being guarded, but she preferred to think she was just fine on her own, even if she felt a little low today.

She realized he was done speaking to her and hadn't even noticed her inattentiveness, for which she was more relieved than discouraged. She didn't want him to think she was purposely ignoring him, and it wasn't as if being unnoticed by him was anything new to her. Besides, it was important to sort through her thoughts when she needed to; it helped her to make sense of things.

Now he had his head turned back over his shoulder and was telling Violet something, and then he slowed down so the two of them were walking the same pace side by side, with Bob behind them and Becky in front.

Becky wished that she could have Bob at her side.

Scoops was saying, "I thought maybe I'd do some interviews with fellow classmates, asking them what they think of Valentine's Day, you know?"

Violet nodded attentively with a smile.

"Well," he said, "I went to interview Eileen, and you now what she said?"

"What did she say?" Violet said, already grinning as if she knew it'd be something that would make her laugh.

Scoops replied, "She said, 'I'll answer your questions if you give me a birthday-valentine on Valentine's Day,'!" He and Violet burst out laughing.

At the sound of her friends' laughter, Becky realized she needed to lighten up more so she laughed with them. Any self-pitying thoughts that brought her back to pathetic memories didn't matter anymore, all of it had been long over-with. After all, Valentine's Day wasn't _supposed_ to make her feel so . . . angst-y. She just wanted to be happy.

"So, _are_ you giving Eileen a valentine?" Violet asked.

Scoops bumped her shoulder with his, smiling. "You're kidding, right?"

"That reminds me of when we were in fifth grade and Violet had to pair up with Eileen for that field trip," Becky said, looking back over her shoulder at them, making a start at joining the conversation.

Bob jumped up so she could see him behind Scoops and Violet, and chattered loudly at the memory.

Violet's eyes lit up. "I was just thinking about that the other day!" she exclaimed. "Where did we even go on that trip anyway? I was trying to remember." She tapped her lip thoughtfully.

"Zachary Zany's." Becky said. She still remembered it all.

"Oh." said Scoops dejectedly. "This again." He had been sick and unable to make the trip then, and whenever Becky and Violet brought it up, he complained about being jealous. "The greatest story ever and I missed it . . ." he'd moan, and then they'd laugh at him.

"That was a crazy day," Violet said. "I must have filled about thirty-four pages in my diary describing the whole thing. Remember, me and you wanted to be buddies, Becky, and Eileen came over and got really mad..."

As the four of them continued down the street listening to Violet talk, they strolled past the stores downtown with the big windows full of stuff on display for the upcoming holiday. Becky was looking in the windows and half-listening. She had to admit, at least Valentine's Day decorations were pretty.

She was looking at all of the pink-and-red decor put up in the windows, lights strung around as if it was Christmas-time, brightening up the stacked heart-shaped boxes wrapped in red paper and silk ribbons. On the sign that advertised them, there was a picture of a guy holding out flowers and a box of candy to a girl who had a huge, ridiculous smile on her face and her hands clasped with delight. Becky rolled her eyes at the guy and the girl, and ended up thinking about love again.

It seemed like something wonderful. She knew it was. But she wondered how you could tell when it was real. Despite that past crush on Scoops and the times when she'd sworn it was love, she no longer believed it was. If she'd been so sure then, how could you ever tell if you thought you were falling for someone and it wasn't real?

And she'd even been convinced at one point that he felt the same way about her and that they were going to get together someday. Looking back, she could see it was all a fantasy she'd gotten so caught up in that it had seemed like reality to her, but she didn't believe in that anymore, obviously.

She wondered how you could trust those signs of being in love. They may really end up fading to nothing but a memory that you'd rather forget about, like hers had. Wasn't there some way to be able to know what was going to happen and avoid any troubles or pain? Even though her situation with Scoops hadn't been very serious and it wasn't as if she'd gone through terrible heartache over a break up, it still had caused her some unpleasant feelings and moments of hopelessness. Maybe sometimes never even getting together could trouble you just as much as breaking up.

She didn't have much experience, but she did trust her conclusion that love was confusing.

Thinking about love being so confusing led her to thinking about Tobey. Knowing that thinking about such a thing lead her to think of him was something she was very aware of but didn't want to consider too much. She knew she was beginning to think twice about him, to think that there was more to him than she'd originally decided. So, what of it? There was nothing wrong with thinking someone wasn't as bad as you'd always believed, nothing special about it. It didn't mean anything.

She was only lead to think of him because he had a mad crush on her when she was WordGirl, at least.

She wondered if _that_ was for real. She wondered what it would mean to her if it _was_. Then she half-smiled, wondering what he'd think if he knew she was WordGirl, considering as Becky, she didn't always get along like best friends with him.

Though sometimes, she recalled worrisomely, when he was looking straight at her, she just got the chilling feeling that deep down he knew the truth about her. Maybe she was just being paranoid. But he wasn't stupid, and she did make little mistakes once in a while that would even make the simple-minded suspicious. He'd accused her of being WordGirl before. There was no being certain that he had been perfectly convinced by her "proof" of _not_ being WordGirl.

She wondered if he would be doing anything for Valentine's Day, to get WordGirl's attention. She thought about flowers and candy and all that. It seemed typical for Tobey; especially the flowers. Despite the robots and recklessness, he was that kind of boy.

She thought back. As far as she could remember, Tobey had always been trying to catch her attention in one way or another, mostly by building giant robots that played hopscotch in the city or tried to push over buildings. Over the years he'd quieted down a little and more often it seemed that the trouble he got into was from ideas gone wrong, rather than an army of robots parading into the city just so she'd come around. And she couldn't remember when the last time he'd burst out into the city with robots was. Nonetheless, things were still the same. He persisted and she kept herself to herself.

At least most of the time. Once in a while, she surprised herself by realizing that, despite her being a superhero and his being a villain, sometimes their differences completely slipped form her mind and he didn't seem that obnoxious at all, and she didn't feel like there was anything wrong with thinking he wasn't so bad, and they were capable of getting along like . . . friends.

He generally seemed like a bad idea, and yet sometimes she forgot to keep looking at him that way, and she didn't know why. It was just . . . different, if she had to put a label on it. She wasn't quite sure _what_ that meant. But sometimes she didn't know what to think, when it came to him . . .

Sometimes, only _once_ in a while though, she thought with emphasis, she suspected herself of having a miniscule fear of liking him, and that was what made her think such thoughts of not wanting anything to do with falling in love.

She tried to push those ideas out of her head now.

All of the sudden Violet exclaimed, "Oh, look at this!", pulling Becky out of the fog of her thoughts.

The four of them stopped and fallowed Violet's gaze to the big window at their right.

"What?" Scoops asked as they peered in.

"Look," Violet breathed, her breath making a circle of moisture on the window. She pushed a strand of her short, blonde hair out of her face as she leaned closer and said, "That's the prettiest box," As she spoke she traced the shape of a heart into her breath on the window.

She had pointed at a generously-sized box with roses printed all over the lid and a silky ribbon tied around it. Scoops, Becky and Bob crowded around her looking in and held their breath, so they wouldn't fog up the whole window.

"Ooh, it is pretty," Becky agreed when she saw it, forgetting her troublesome thoughts for a moment.

"I know, isn't it?" Violet said.

It was funny, Becky thought, how she felt like a child again, and so suddenly. When was the last time she and her friends had stood around a shop window exclaiming over what they saw inside? It almost made her want to laugh, for some reason, to feel the freedom of being carefree for just a moment, like a child. It was the type of moment you'd snap a picture of and put on the front of a postcard.

"It's ten dollars." Scoops said, actually interested in the box. "I bet the chocolate is really good." Somehow something just seemed like it would taste better if it was in a huge, red, heart-shaped box, even to someone who was mostly occupied with thinking about newspapers.

"Well, it is big," Becky said, justifying the price.

"We should buy it," Violet declared with a determined voice, her blue eyes shining.

"Yeah!" Scoops said, smiling at her.

Bob threw his hands in the air with a squeal and a grin.

"As if we'd have enough money though." Becky said, the first to be unoptimistic. "I've got three dollars."

"I have fifty cents," Scoops said. "In my pocket. I do have more, but it's not with me."

"Well, that's not really helpful right now," Becky said with a shrug.

Violet sighed. "I was counting on you guys having more," she said. "I have two dollars."

Bob pulled out his wallet and examined the contents, then extracted a five dollar bill, which he held out to Becky with a smile.

Becky's eyes lit up. "Let's go buy it!" she said.

"Okay!" Violet exclaimed, grinning brightly.

So the four of them went inside and walked to the counter. With a sweet smile, Violet said to the lady working, "Excuse me, there's a box in the window that we'd like to buy. It's the really big one that costs ten dollars. Can we get one?"

"Yeah." the lady said monotonously, pulling out an identical box from a shelf behind her. Then she looked up at Bob, who was perched on Becky's shoulders.

"Um, I'm sorry, you can't bring badgers in here." she said, looking down her nose. "He has to go." She sniffed.

"He's not a badger," Becky said, patting Bob as a gesture for him to relax. He often got touchy about people not being able to tell what species he was. "He's a monkey." she said.

"Really?" the lady said, squinting. "I mean, maybe he could be a dog, but I don't see . . ."

"Well, he _is_ a monkey," Becky insisted.

"Can I see his license?" the lady asked.

Becky smiled a little sheepishly. "Well, oddly enough, he has a ferret license, but I assure you-"

"So he's a ferret then?" the lady said, making a face. "Ain't he kinda big to be a ferret?"

"No!" Becky said, trying to keep patient as Scoops and Violet snickered a little behind her. "It's a long story. But -"

"'Cause we do let ferrets in here," the lady said, rubbing her jaw thoughtfully. "But no badgers or wolverines or anything."

"Okay, fine, he's a ferret." Becky said impatiently.

Bob squealed indignantly about this but she ignored him. She, Violet, and Scoops all put their money on the counter, but Bob clutched his five dollar bill and wouldn't give it up.

"Look, everyone else knows your a monkey," Becky said reassuringly. "No need to be all offended."

"Right," Violet said. "You look just like a monkey, Bob,"

The lady behind the counter said dubiously, "He's a ferret pretending to be a monkey now?"

"Yeah." Scoops told her.

"Exactly." agreed Violet.

Becky rolled her eyes.

But Bob softened up and handed over his money. Becky put it on the counter with the rest and the lady gave them their change back, then handed them the box. Despite herself and her opinions of Valentine's Day, Becky reached out first, and took the box.

"Happy Valentine's Day," the lady said.

Violet smiled. "Happy Valentine's Day to you, too!" she said as they turned away to go.

In the shop there was a bar with stools lined up at it for anyone who came in and made themselves a cup of coffee.

"Let's sit there," Becky said, looking down at the box in her arms. It really was very pretty. Somehow being the one to hold it was a little thrilling.

So they sat on the stools and Becky, after laying the box down in front of her, gingerly untied the silk ribbon, then removed the lid.

"Wow," Scoops said. He and Violet were on either side of Becky, leaning closer, and Bob, who was still on Becky's shoulders, squealed with delight, having entirely forgotten his previous degrading moment.

There was fifty chocolates in the box, and almost every single one looked different.

"Does anyone mind if I take this one?" Violet asked, pointing at one with pink icing on it. She made sure not to touch it in case someone else did want it.

"No, go ahead," Becky said, preferring the chocolates with caramel in them. Scoops randomly chose one without giving much thought to what it might taste like. Violet handed Bob one with coconut shavings on it.

They all bit into the chocolates and grinned at each other. They were delicious.

It was times like these that Becky's heart felt all filled up with love for the people around her. Here she was, sitting in this warm, cozy, little shop, eating wonderful, beautiful chocolates from a lovely Valentine's Day box with her best friends. She forgot that she had been chilly earlier, thinking about unhappy things that didn't even matter anymore, or things she'd been puzzled or anxious about. She forgot that she wasn't a fan of Valentine's Day. This bright moment was enough to make her realize she shouldn't worry about things that didn't matter anymore. And it felt nice to feel like you don't have to worry.

She didn't know that things were about to turn very complicated.

~O~O~O~

So, there is the first real chapter. I sincerely hope you guys like it and if you do please let me know! I totally appreciate all of my other reviews, since I put these stories up for you other WordGirl fans. Thanks for reading and God bless. Have a great day, ~ superstarwordgirl


	3. chapter two

First off, I love you guys for your reviews, they make me SO happy! I love you guys for them, thank you thank you thank you!

Once again, I can't do any editing on , so if there's words spelled wrong, my spellcheck at home must be screwed, sorry.

~O~O~O~

CHAPTER TWO~

They took their time and ate almost all of the chocolates, talking and laughing and just having a good time. But then Violet noticed the time and realized she'd better go, since her home was a long walk away, on the outskirts of the suburbs, and she wanted to get back before dark. So Scoops decided to leave, too, and see if he could find some interesting happenings in town to write about.

"You wanna come, Becky?" he asked.

Funny, some time ago she would have taken his asking as some sort of sign of secret affection. Now, she really didn't think twice or particularly care, even though she thought it was nice of him to ask. She just felt like getting back home now.

"Oh, no thanks," she answered. "Me and Bob had better head home before it geTs late. But thanks for the invitation," She smiled.

"Sure," he said, sliding off of his stool. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye," she said with a wave as he walked out the door and was gone now, quick and easy as that.

"I guess we'd better head home, Bob," she said then. "It's going to be dark out soon," The city lights were already glowing against the dusky sky.

Bob nodded with a chatter, climbing down from his barstool as she slid off of hers. She pulled her scarf around her neck a little more warmly and then headed to the door with Bob at her heels, the now closed box of chocolates in her arms.

As they were walking down the street in companionable silence, she opened the box and looked over what was left of the chocolates, which wasn't much. She and her friends had all sworn to each other that after all they'd eaten, they would never have another piece of candy again, and Bob could take the rest; that's why she was the one bringing the box home now. Becky knew better though; she'd probably keep about half of what was left for herself when they got back to the house, if her brother TJ didn't catch her with them and demand for some, too.

Then she closed the box and looked up again. She noticed someone standing out on the sidewalk ahead, and as she got closer she realized with surprise that it was Tobey.

He spotted her, too. He was outside the front of the grocery store, looking bored and annoyed. She made a face, wondering what on earth he was doing there; he looked like a loiterer. At least a classy one, she thought, with his bowtie and jacket and khaki-colored pants. She had never seen him in a pair of jeans unlike every other normal boy she knew, she thought as she observed him. Then she shook her head and pushed on, only briefly glancing up as she approached, planning on just walking by, since that seemed to be the safest thing to do.

He wasn't half so offhanded with her.

"Well, hello, Becky Botsford," he said with a playful smile, vexation gone from his face. "And where are you headed this evening, hm?"

She glanced up at him with the suspicious look she often gave him as a greeting. "Home," she said warily.

She made up her mind not to get engaged in a conversation with him. Bob had his arms crossed, giving Tobey a skeptical look, and he would probably appreciate it if they moved on anyway; for some reason he didn't particularly like it when she talked to Tobey.

So she _had_ intended on keeping on going her way, but then she stopped asked, "What's with you? Hanging out outside of the grocery store like this? It's cold out." She just wanted to know.

"Yes, it is, and thank you for being concerned," Tobey said, his hands in his coat pockets.

"You're welcome." she returned.

"But I'm not out here because of my own will." he continued, leaned back against the building casually. "I've been banned from the place, as the last time I was there, one of my small robots-you know, the ones that turn into giant robots?"

"Yeah, I know those," she said.

"Well, one got away from me by _mistake - _emphasis on the word 'mistake' so, you don't go lecturing me about how troublesome I am - and it caused a minor hullabaloo. And I'm not allowed to stay home alone due to other similar incidents until this ridiculous penalty ends in two days, so I have to wait out here for my mother to get out, all because of a minor accident." he finished, noting that he always seemed to get into trouble whether he was trying to or not. It wasn't fair.

"Oh." she said. "That's too bad, I guess. I actually didn't know about that."

Tobey sighed with half-closed eyes, examining his fingernails. "Well, isn't that amusing. Something I've gotten in trouble for that you don't already know about." Usually Becky was very up-to-date on whatever it was he did as to the point that sometimes he wondered if she secretly liked him and was stalking him or something. _Maybe. _But probably not.

She ignored his comment. "You'd think I'd have heard about it," she said thoughtfully. She turned to Bob. "Did you know?"

He nodded with a squeal.

"Hm, well, I didn't read the paper yet this week." Becky answered, looking downward as she thought. "Wonder why I never knew though."

"I don't know, perhaps because it's none of your business." Tobey said, looking off into the distance.

"Yeah it is," she said innocently without thinking.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Uh . . . " she paused for a moment. She didn't want to arouse suspicion, but she wasn't sure what to say. It was too bad she could never learn to be careful enough, especially around him. "Well," she said, her mind still trying to come up with something quick and smart. "Well, I . . . "

Bob shook his head with disgust.

So she said, trying to sound cool, "It's just my business." She ignored that look Bob was giving her for being so stupid.

Tobey crossed his arms. "Alright, if you say so," he said, thinking that this conversation was making him want to bring out a robot right now, just from talking about such matters as himself getting in trouble. He hadn't really felt the want to ever since deciding he might try to keep out of trouble some time ago, but back then he had told himself whenever he felt like he wanted to, he could bring out a robot, just to get WordGirl to come around. Now the idea seemed appealing. Just because of the way Becky was talking to him.

She had no idea how often he looked at her and wondered how she couldn't be WordGirl, he thought.

Then he said, "Although to be honest, I don't quite understand _why _it's your business,"

"Oh, just quit being so intractable." Becky said, waving her hand to dismiss his words.

"Oh, yes, intractable," Tobey said. "That word that means the same thing as obstinate, stubborn or difficult."

She crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. "Are you trying to impress me?"

"No!" he said indignantly. "Why would you ever think such an absurdly ridiculous thing? That's absolutely preposterous."

"Okay then, I get the hint." she said, glancing away with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Well, good," he said, but not very convinced that _she _was convinced. That very much aggravated him. He certainly didn't want her going about thinking Tobey McCallister was sweet on her, but further insistence wouldn't look good on his defense. And she was liable to believe whatever degrading thing she felt like believing about him, so if she had it in her head that he liked her, true or not, then there wasn't anything he could do about that.

He glared at her a little as she looked down the street. He didn't like the smug, self-assured look on her face; it wounded his pride a little.

She brought her eyes up to him again. "Why don't you just go somewhere else?" she asked. "I mean, instead of standing outside in the cold? The launderette is right next door. Surely you'd at least be able to stand in there?"

"My, Becky, aren't you inquisitive," Tobey said.

"You mean 'inquisitorial'?" she retorted, just because she felt like it.

"Or perhaps 'meddlesome' is more appropriate." he returned.

She raised her eyebrows. "Intrusive?"

"Or perhaps just plain nosy," he said.

"You're just saying that because you can't think of any better words, so I win," Becky said.

"Oh, no, I have plenty of words," he said.

"So you say," she said, with a half-smile to match his. "And _that_ doesn't mean anything."

"No, certainly not to _you_," he said.

She stopped just a moment to think, _the two of us are so weird together._ They argued, and then got into a conversation like _this,_ where they weren't exactly talking and laughing in a friendly way, but they weren't enemies at the moment, either. She always said exactly what she wanted to him and he said exactly what he wanted to her, and neither of them cared either way. The way she got along with him wasn't like the ways she got a long with other people, and yet somehow much simpler. He wasn't like her friends at all; he was different from them. And in other ways besides being a genius and building robots.

"So, you _aren't _up to anything no good right now, then?" she asked lightly.

"No," he sighed irritably. Of course she was going back to that.

"Ha. Are you sure? You haven't done anything in so long, it seems due time for an epic robot battle."

He looked at her keenly, but she didn't notice, she was looking down the street thoughtfully again.

It wouldn't be _so _terrible to just pull out his remote and summon that new robot he'd just built, he thought. And for crying out loud, he hadn't talked to WordGirl in so long. Things hadn't exactly gone the way he thought they might when he'd decided to try out being good again. He should've known, since it had happened before, but oh well.

She opened her mouth to speak but before she could, he very suddenly decided he ought to do it after all and said to her,

"But no need to worry for me; as soon as I feel my mother has gotten well-enough distracted by the soothing rhythm of grocery shopping, I'm going to unleash my latest creation on the city," He said it as though he'd had this plan in mind all day and hadn't just thought it up.

Becky blinked, actually having forgotten he was bad for a moment. "Your latest creation?" she repeated.

Bob shook his head with a groan of disapproval.

"Yes," said Tobey, "And I find it rather impressive, if I do say so myself."

"Uh, what is it?" Becky asked.

"Oh, it's a robot that looks like just any of my normal ones, only stronger, and with an impressive learning ability. So I don't have to bother with programming it; it bases its attacks on what it learns about who it's fighting, and best of all, it knows all of WordGirl's attacks by heart! Certain to keep her around for a while, don't you think?" He gave her a searching look, as if hoping for some sort of sign that indicated she was apprehensive at him mentioning WordGirl to her face.

"But, why?" she just asked, looking at him hard.

"Why not?" he asked, looking back at her, a little disappointed at her reaction but deciding to forget about that right now. "It doesn't make any difference to you."

"How do you know?" she asked.

"I don't know. . . " he said with a shrug. Then he reconsidered for a moment and asked curiously, "_Does _it make a difference to you?"

His question caught her off guard, she hadn't thought what she said would mean anything to him. Instead of answering though, she said, "Just please don't; isn't there something else you can do that's better?"

He gave her another searching look. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Why do you care? I'm just going to get in trouble anyway, so it shouldn't make any difference to you." He was slightly stuck on her words _isn't there something else you can do that's better?._ What a vague statement. Was she referring to better ways to get to see WordGirl, or did she mean better things he could do with his time? Or life? He knew she knew he liked WordGirl, but was that what exactly she was talking about?

"Something bad could happen," she said, somehow desperate that he would not bring out the robot, and just not exactly knowing why. "Things always end the same. Just don't."

Something about the look in her eyes stirred up an odd feeling in him, but then he pushed that away and tried to forget it, saying, "You don't understand anything," and pulling out his remote.

"I don't know . . . " she began, but before she could even say anything, he pushed the button with a quick little grin at her.

Bob shot him a look of disgust. She just clutched the box of chocolates against her chest, too angry to move at the moment. She knew she ought to be running off to turn into WordGirl; Bob was already turning to go, only waiting for her. But she couldn't quite do that. She was just so angry at Tobey suddenly. Even though these kinds of actions were what she always expected of him, for once she had to admit, she was surprisingly disappointed with him now. Why wouldn't he just do what she wanted?

"Why do you always do that?" she asked. "Why can't you just be like everyone else?"

Frustrated, he just looked at her for a moment, taking in the big, heart-shaped box she was holding closely, and his gaze lingered on it for a moment. Just briefly, he considered the possibility of honestly saying that WordGirl wouldn't have anything to do with him otherwise and that he was just this desperate by now. But what did she know about any of that? She obviously didn't have the same problems he had. So instead he said again, "You don't understand anything, Becky.", looking back up at her eyes.

"Don't understand?" she repeated, because she didn't. "I'll tell you who doesn't understand . . . "

He didn't want to hear anything she had to say, because no matter what, it would be just another way of saying he was wrong and she was right. There was nothing wrong with what he was doing, he told himself, because it was always the same, nothing bad happened. So he interrupted her.

"It's not as if anything very terrible ever comes out of it, you know." he said. "WordGirl shows up and destroys the robot, like clockwork, every time. And if she can't, well, there's other ways to negotiate. Nothing gets ruined, no one gets hurt. Why do you always have to insert yourself into other people's issues?" He was mad at her for making him feel guilty about things he knew were stupid that he wanted to do anyway, and because she was constantly bossing him around and always got her way.

"I don't know, because I'm trying to talk some sense into you?" Becky said fiercely. "Maybe nothing bad has happened yet, but you just wait until something does, then you'll wish you'd have listened to me!" She grabbed Bob by the arm and marched off, leaving Tobey alone on the sidewalk.

~O~O~O~

Thanks for reading and reviewing! To those of who who DON'T review if there are any, pretty please do!:)


	4. chapter three

This chapter has a robot battle in it.

Ironically, in some parts it's almost exactly like the robot battle in the episode "Bampy Beats Bots", but in case anyone's wondering, I hadn't even seen the episode when I began to finalized this chapter. I've been working on it for at least two months and didn't even get to watch that particular episode until about two weeks after it aired. And the battles aren't _exactly _the same, but still, close enough that I felt the need to assure you this isn't supposed to be like the same battle or anything and I when I finally watched the episode, it was so weird, like actually watching the story I'd written as an episode for a few seconds. (Seriously, even though my story doesn't say which of the police officers on WG it is herding people out of the street, in my mind it was the same one who did in the episode. O_O)

So yeah, if you suddenly think, hey, WordGirl's done this before...just pretend she didn't, pretty pretty please; I really didn't want to have to change this after working it to perfection. It ends totally different anyhow, though, so.

Having seen the episode now though, I'll have to find a way to throw Bampy in here somewhere...I like him.

Once again, I am SO grateful to you guys who liked my story so far! The stuff you say is so nice, thank you so much for it. For real, seriously, I love you.

~O~O~O~

Chapter Three ~

Becky didn't have time to waste any more than she already had, she thought as she rounded the street corner, her steps pounding heavy on the cement as she ran. She didn't have time to consider that Tobey might be suspicious of her for storming off right when WordGirl should be coming around. She knew he probably was, but there wasn't time to think about that now.

Pulling Bob behind her, she turned down a less-crowded street and found a dim alley. After making sure no one was looking at her or standing too near to even notice, they ducked into it and behind a stack of crates and boxes. She exclaimed, "Word up!" and shot into the sky as WordGirl with Captain Huggy Face under her arm.

She rose above the city and just in time, she heard the mechanical sound of the robot's footfalls, and saw the ground vibrate with each heavy step it took. Its huge feet barely missed the cars parked along the sidewalk as it stormed through the street, and crowds of people ran from the nearby shops screaming, getting out of there fast. Suddenly the once tranquil street was a familiar scene of chaos.

A police officer who had been nearby began herding people out of the grocery store, and WordGirl saw Tobey's mother in this group. From this far off, she could not make out the look on Mrs. McCallister's face, but the officer was tugging her onward with everybody else to get out of the area before something bad happened and so she fallowed, constantly looking back at that robot. For some reason, WordGirl found the scene rather . . . heart-wrenching.

But it was time to get out there now. She flew out from behind the buildings swiftly.

Somehow, even though she was silent, the robot detected her presence and swung around, catching her off-guard once she was too close to back away, and it hit her with its giant hand before Tobey even looked up to see she had arrived. But he did see the robot hurl her down to the sidewalk, which made him feel sick for a moment and wonder what was wrong with himself, bringing out this stupid robot . . . he should've listened to Becky . . .

But of course, WordGirl didn't hit the sidewalk; she managed to stop just inches away from smashing into it head-first. She and Huggy looked obviously taken by surprise and breathless from such a scare. But she rose back into the sky quickly, this time dodging the robot's blows, though still unable to get in close enough to do any damage to it, the way it was swinging so wildly at her.

She was very aggravated by this. She stopped for a moment, looked down at Tobey and said as she brushed her hands off, "Well, it's been a while," She narrowed her eyes at him.

Huggy chattered and rolled his eyes at her for talking to Tobey, but she ignored him.

"Yes, well," Tobey said, hoping he didn't look too anxious. After all, he hadn't seen her often these days, and usually when he had it was because of one of his ideas gone awry, as opposed to him purposely being bad. He was a little apprehensive now that he'd finally brought out a robot again at exchanging words with her.

"So, WordGirl, how do you like the robot?" he asked.

"Thus far I don't particularly like it at all," she said, crossing her arms.

"Ah, well, I've had plenty of time to work on it, so I suppose you wouldn't," he said.

"Well, yeah," WordGirl said. "Actually, I'm surprised it's been so long since the last time. How come I haven't seen your robots around until now? I mean, not that I want to, but you know, just curious." Her voice had lost some of its edge.

So, she'd noticed that he hadn't been around, he thought. Despite saying that she didn't _want_ to see his robots, it was enough for him that she had noticed. But then he rolled his eyes. Apparently she didn't even remember when she'd asked him to stay out of trouble and he'd said sure; that it'd been _because of her _that she hadn't seen his robots in a while.

Of course, she probably hadn't been taking him seriously when she had asked him that and he had said sure; maybe to her, it was just herself telling another villain not to cause trouble, whereas to him, it had been more like her asking him to please be good in a personal way. It was annoying that he'd gone so long this way with her completely oblivious to herself being his reason. Maybe if she'd have known it would've meant something, but . . .

"Well, I don't know, I suppose I've just been busy," he said crossly, deciding to forget about it since it couldn't be helped and was of the past now. He kept his hand in his pocket on the remote in case the robot got a mind of its own and decided to do something vicious, just to make sure that the robot wasn't rampaging about so violently now that she was talking to him. He certainly didn't want her to fly off right when a conversation was beginning.

She made a face. "Busy? Doing what?"

"You know, stuff," he said.

"What stuff?" she asked, looking rather taken by surprise. She hadn't thought Tobey cared about anything else enough that he would forget about her for such a long while. It just didn't seem like him, but...

"Just stuff, okay?" he answered with annoyance.

"Well, whatever," she said, still thinking she had never thought he would rather be doing "stuff" than bringing robots out into the city. Considering that she knew why he did it, that is. But after a second, she said, "Well, I'm gonna go destroy your robot now," She flew off then. It was time to just concentrate on fighting and not puzzle over things that shouldn't really matter.

Tobey shook his head and scowled at the sidewalk.

She couldn't use any of her plans of attack now, she thought as she observed the robot; Tobey had said the it knew those. That was certainly a setback, even though she'd dealt with similar complications before. Either way, it was still a pain to think up almost entirely new moves, and when you were someone like her who planned so carefully that you even have a plan 5,000.2, there really isn't much left you can think of that you haven't already. She sighed and dove in toward the robot.

Tobey was beginning to feel increasingly doubtful as he watched her. Of what, he was not sure. He was also beginning to realize he didn't like this very much. Yes, she looked as beautiful as ever, streaking across the sky like a shooting star, and she was here, just like he had wanted her to be, but a feeling of dread had come over him that he didn't quite get.

It had been a very long time since their last battle and now he felt a little wrong about it, somehow. And Becky's previous little outburst at him didn't make anything feel any better. Annoying as she could be sometimes, she had some sort of hold on him and was capable of making him feel that he ought to be doing better whether he liked it or not. He wasn't quite sure if this was good or bad.

Either way the whole robots issue seemed more serious now, unlike when he was younger and it had just been a game to make WordGirl come around. Back then it had seemed like No Big Deal. But now, he was thinking that it wasn't. For the first time he felt kind of guilty because he'd always known better but never really cared; tried to never care. Now that he hadn't done it for a while he felt a little stupid doing it now.

He knew that just like every other time, this robot would end up demolished beyond repair and everything would be fine and dandy for everyone except himself. But everything Becky had said was right. What _was_ he doing? He thought, _only a crazy person would do this to get a girl's attention. _Did that make him crazy, then? Did it even matter if everyone else thought he was crazy already?

Becoming consumed with questions as to whether this was really wrong or not, he watched WordGirl as she circled around the robot. It turned its head to watch her every move but it did nothing, which made him hold his breath.

They seemed to be taking in each other's strengths, both still going in circles, when suddenly the robot made the first move by leaping into the air and lunging at her, and when she flew to the side to avoid it, it swung out to reach for her. She dodged the hand, flew down underneath it and managed to grab a hold of the robot with her hands against its belly, pushing it up, straining every muscle in her body with Huggy still clinging to her. She planned on attempting to swing it into the air and smash it down onto the pavement, as the cars and people had all cleared out of the street by now and it would be safe to do so.

But the robot was surprisingly a great deal heavier that Tobey's usual ones and she found to her horror that she couldn't support its weight and stay in the air at the same time, and she just sank. As quickly as she could, she threw it away, her breathing coming heavy from the exertion.

The robot didn't go far. It simply managed to land on its feet, and just as quickly spring back to action.

This is hard, she thought, as she watched the robot watching her. Her mind reeled.

It had never seemed to take this long for her to at least damage a robot. Why was Tobey making this so hard? She looked down at him, standing on the sidewalk and clutching that remote, looking small and unhappy, a way she wasn't used to seeing him look. It was unusual enough to make her pause a moment and hold her glance a little longer than she might have had he been smiling roguishly or giving her a frustrated look.

He looked up and his eyes met hers, but then the robot came at her again, catching her once more unprepared.

_What's wrong with me?_ she wondered as she breathlessly tried to grab its arm, while Huggy flung himself from her at its head. Maybe she was just uncoordinated today. She certainly felt a bit off.

She watched to make sure that Huggy managed to stick the landing atop the robot, and once he was off of her, she got a tight grip on the robot's arm, determined to accomplish something this time. No more fooling around.

She wrapped herself arms and legs around the arm and tried to pull away hard, struggling in vain to disconnect the limb as the robot swung around to rid itself of her. She pulled as hard as she could with a clenched jaw, straining with all of her strength, every ounce she could manage, until she felt her skin prickle with beads of perspiration. She listened for the snap of the chords coming disconnected at her persistent pulling, but nothing of the sort came, and it was arduous to hold on with the robot trying to shake her off like it was.

At the same time Huggy was letting out a burst of chattering as he stomped up and down on top of the robot and swung his fists into its head, but he couldn't put a dent in the metal. The robot just reached up with the its other arm and flung him away like he was a fly on bread.

WordGirl was having no success trying to pull its arm off and the strain was making her exhausted, it was attached so securely. It crossed her mind to fly off to a hardware store and get a screw driver, but she didn't think Huggy would be able to hold off the robot on his own and it only took one second for a skyscraper to get knocked over. She believed Tobey wouldn't let the robot actually do that to an occupied building, but with hisluck, he'd drop his remote and the robot would then be unstoppable. And with _her_ luck, findinga hardware store would take just long enough for something like that to happen.

She flew away before the robot's relentless jarring could make her any groggier and searched around for something else she could try, while Huggy managed to land on the fire escape of a building, looking rattled.

This was such an odd battle. Usually she and Tobey would be calling out smack-talk to each other or at least even arguing with each other, but no more words were said. Not even between herself and Huggy. And she wasn't used to Tobey being down on the ground, either. Everything was just different and somehow seemed to set things off.

But she had to do something now, before anything bad happened. She had to be a little optimistic even thought the robot was still in ship-shape and _she_ was already tired; at least nothing had been destroyed yet. Despite the robot's being hard to defeat, it wasn't doing anything particularly reckless, such as grabbing busses and throwing them or tearing at the city buildings. There were no crushed cars or demolished streets yet, and that was all that really mattered.

WordGirl was thinking this as she headed high into the sky with determination, then spun around and flew back down at high speed, aiming for the antenna atop the robot's head. She planned to kick it as hard as she could while the robot had its back to her and was preoccupied with ambling towards the Wilrose Building.

But it maneuvered away and instead she found she was hurling herself at a skyscraper. She tried to break, but at this velocity it was impossible to completely stop herself. She landed on her feet, though on the top of the building, and sank to her knees breathlessly.

She looked up from where she knelt, gasping for air, her face hot and damp. Her hair clung to the back of her neck and her outfit felt plastered to her body. She had to do something, but what? She had never been in such a hard robot battle before, and this was only _one_ robot, which was the most dispiriting of all about her failure. She was used to these battles being a breeze.

One of the worst things that could happen would be if she had to beg Tobey to stop, which was exactly what he usually wanted, and then he would offer her another way out of this: usually to go out with him or something. She became even more flustered thinking of this. It was better than a few other options of outcomes, but that didn't mean she wouldn't _rather_ avoid it. As of yet, she'd never had to avail herself to giving up. What if she did today?

Funny, when they were younger, they could easily just resort to something else; playing dodge ball or some word game. Right now though, things certainly didn't seem light enough for her to just simply suggest such a thing. Right now things seemed heavy: her desperation to demolish the robot, Tobey's standing down below looking distracted, the way things just weren't exactly the way they were before. She wondered why things didn't feel the same, but knew she was somehow part of the reason.

She sighed and creased her brow as she glanced down at Tobey again, but she could hardly lay eyes on him before the robot was about to step on an unfortunate van that had been abandoned in a parking lot.

She flew down in a flash and grabbed the van out from under the robot's foot before it could crush it, and dropped it on a safer place while the robot turned to grab Huggy.

She thought hard, wondering what could be tried next as Huggy sprang away. One of the things that made damaging it the hardest was the constantly swinging of its arms at her erratically. If she could just tear one off everything could be much easier.

She had to try again, even though she was feeling close to defeat. Full of new adrenaline, she soared at the robot, trying to muster up all of her remaining power. It had its back to her once again, as it was preoccupied by Huggy. He was dancing around on top of the building, as if he knew WordGirl could use this kind of distraction for the robot at this moment. So this was her chance. She urged herself to fly faster, despite her fatigue. But it didn't go like she planned.

~O~O~O~

I hate cliffhanger chapter-endings. But this chapter would've been too long so I just felt like cutting it in half. But I'm uploading two chapters today because of this, so.

THANK YOU for reading and especially if you review this! If you don't review, please DO. Tons of love. God bless ya, people. ~superstarwordgirl


	5. chapter four

Here we go, starting where we left off with WordGirl flying at the robot, blahblahblah, and the line, "It didn't go exactly like she planned." Or something like that.

~O~O~O~

There was a flash of metal as the robot spun around and struck her with its huge hand, hard this time.

For a moment all she could see was blackness as pain gripped her and she felt herself being thrown downward violently. She heard Huggy squeal with terror and Tobey shout her name just before she crashed blindly.

She felt herself smashing through objects that weren't hard, maybe cardboard boxes; which stopped her from crashing with painful impact, until she stopped with her back pushed up against a cold, solid object. There was pavement under her.

When she opened her eyes with a moan, everything spun, but she could see that she was between two buildings in a shadowy alley, the sidewalk a distance away from her, and a mess of spilled cardboard boxes and garbage all around her.

She closed her eyes, her head and heart throbbing, and exhaled blearily. She listened and couldn't hear the robot stomping around anymore. But she did hear pounding footsteps and Tobey's voice.

"WordGirl," he began as he ran into the alley, thinking that he really had done it this time when he saw her laying there.

As she opened her eyes, her vision began returning back to normal. She observed that her head was leaned back against a cold, metal dumpster and Tobey was now at her side, kneeling down next to her. He looked at her, glad to see her breath, and swearing to himself he'd never bring out a robot again ever.

The slight aching she felt began to ease into nothing, her breathing began to calm, and she knew she was going to be alright. Though, she couldn't help but notice, something about his looking down at her as she looked back up at him had her feeling caught up and dizzy, and extremely alarmed. She tried to focus on something else but she knew she wasn't only feeling that way from the crash; somehow this kind of dizziness was different. He had never been this close to her before, and his nearness seemed to close in on and all around her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, trace of remaining fear still in his voice.

"Yes," she said. She told herself she simply wasn't used to someone holding her shoulders as he was now, his face just a breath from her own, because she couldn't recall ever having felt this way before. Her unsteadiness had nothing to do with him, she thought, but even her thoughts were enervated. She tried not to feel that way.

"I'm fine."

And then, suddenly, the space between them was no more and she found herself with her eyes closed, his lips against hers warm and gentle as he held her face between his two hands. The feeling of it made her feel breathless. But she breathed in a steady rhythm with him as he kissed her, filled with the sensation that she was falling faster and faster like her pounding heart.

Then she was kissing him back, her hands against his chest, moving up to slide her arms around him, and he was beginning to pull her closer, when suddenly she wondered, _what the hell am I doing kissing Tobey?_

All of the sudden it no longer felt as though time had stopped, or that this was the most exhilarating moment of her life, and the only thing she felt was that it was wrong. Wrong that she was letting him hold her and kiss her like this after he had brought a giant, evil robot out into the city, it had actually hit her, and hurt her. After that, here she was, kissing him! Had she lost her mind? Somehow it actually scared her.

Abruptly she pushed him away from herself, acutely aware of the near-silent sound of their lips parting. Why was she noticing that? She opened her eyes. He looked at her with his own eyes wide.

She was unable to keep her gaze directly at him, and looked away. All she could hear was her raging pulse, so at the silence she blurted out the only defense she had for her sudden change in actions:

"This is wrong,"

There was a second of silence. She held her breath as he pulled his hands back away from her.

She could feel his eyes searching her face but she couldn't look up because suddenly she felt like her inner protective walls had been torn down by that moment of impulse when she'd kissed him back, and now her heart was susceptible to all sorts of feelings she didn't want to feel. She was sure looking at him would set off the ticking time-bomb inside of her and then maybe her heart would explode in her chest or something.

But he was speechless and holding his own breath, waiting for something, some sort of real explanation, though nothing came.

_Someone should be saying something, _she thought with distress . Put an end to the screaming quiet. But she couldn't talk because she had no words to say, and even if she did, she was sure she would regret them later, no matter what they were. She just wanted this moment to be over. She should've pushed him away right away . . . why hadn't she? Or maybe she shouldn't have at all, _ever_; the way she had been ever since she met him. Her mind spun and she realized none of her thoughts were making sense . . .

He stood up then.

She let out a shaky breath.

He stared down at her with his hands out at his sides because he didn't know what to do. He wondered frantically if there was something he could say to make this _not _wrong. It hadn't felt wrong at all to _him_. Standing here awkward and silent wasn't making anything better, but this wasn't fair.

There were a lot of things he could have said to her but suddenly he didn't have the guts to open his mouth. What was wrong with her, pulling him in and then shoving him away like that? What was he supposed to do now, just leave? He looked down at her on the ground, still leaned against the dumpster with her eyes downcast, and he couldn't quite walk away yet. He twisted his hands together nervously, then made himself stop.

He said awkwardly, "Sorry." Because it was the best thing he could think of.

She might have said something back. Despite her loss of words and knowing what to think and feel, she wanted to. But she could hear Captain Huggy Face chattering loudly as he dashed through the parking lot across the street toward the alley where they were, and so she felt even more unable to speak. The silence had lasted too long by now. What would she say anyway? She didn't even know what to feel.

The sound of Tobey's voice speaking that apology echoed in her mind again. She tried to block it out. Feeling any emotional connections to Tobey was not right. He was a villain and that was the bottom line. He was only sorry because something bad had happened, only sorry because she'd pushed him away, right? She concentrated on being emotionless, and concentrated on the cold, fading light. Anything but the defenselessness she was feeling.

So, she had nothing to say, he thought. He'd said sorry and she was silent. He still didn't want to go.

Maybe his normal self wouldn't have left. Maybe he would've stayed, tried to get some sort of response from her, and maybe something would have come out of it. He could've demanded some sort of reason for this, like he wanted. But he wasn't feeling himself. He was filled with doubt and couldn't just stand there anymore. He had done something bad that he knew could have had a much more tragic ending, and he didn't have it in him to stick around now that she had pushed him away and make him feel like this.

He wished she would see him start to leave and jump up and say she'd always loved him or something; that was his only hope. But she still had her head lowered, staring at the pavement looking like she thought she was crazy, and he forced himself to turn forward. The only thing he was sure of was how unsettled he was, and how little he comprehended this. Maybe she was as crazy as he was.

Then his back was to her and he was walking away, and that was when she could finally look up.

Somehow, this felt even more wrong than kissing him had.

She didn't know what had come over her. She looked up and saw Huggy propel himself up at a streetlight and swing from it to glide over the street with the dark pink sky fading behind him, and Tobey was now out of her sight.

The robot moved now, but not at a vicious pace, looking around madly for something to destroy. Instead it stepped carefully over the cars and wandered off loudly in the direction Tobey had gone in. So Tobey wasn't going to destroy the city, she thought. But what difference did it make right now?

She wanted to rise to her feet and become Becky and go home; it was dusk now. Huggy approached, panting. She had no idea what had taken him so long to come, but she was just grateful for the delay.

She tried to collect her wits. She could hardly believe what had just happened.

She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs and for the first time realized how cold she was; and the way the shadows stretched across the sidewalk to the alley where she sat, until they disappeared into the darkness that she was a part of.

She didn't like sitting in this dark space alone. She stood up slowly, just as Huggy reached her.

He chattered and squealed at her franticly. She told him, "I'm perfectly fine, Huggy. Don't worry."

When he asked her why Tobey left with his robot so suddenly, she wasn't sure how to answer. She was mainly glad he hadn't seen them kissing; aside from herself being mortified, she knew he wouldn't have approved at all, and would have rubbed it in her face that it had been a bad idea. She didn't need anyone to tell her that. It would just make her feel more guilty for thinking back now about they way it had felt, because that's what she was doing, and she felt dazed by it.

She justified herself by thinking that anyone would, and figured it would be stuck in her mind all night and thus she couldn't blame herself. After all, it was her first kiss.

She wished she could suppress the crazy feeling inside.

It had been with Tobey. Was that unexpected? She somehow got the feeling that she'd had it coming to her. Somehow it kind of made sense. And _that_ seemed very wrong, too.

She was left with a new sort of feeling. Always before with her and Tobey, things were simple. Maybe a little confusing and certainly not _normal_, but still, always the same and never different. She could yell at him one moment and accuse him of being up to no good when he wasn't, and then the next moment he could tell her she looked lovely today or try and find some way to make her smile. Or he'd be bad and she'd be giving him one of her lectures, and then they'd get into a somewhat friendly conversation until they realized it and things got awkward. But this time around, the move she had made in this game gave things a new twist, and suddenly, it wasn't a game anymore. She felt like she had lost something, and it made her feel small and alone, reminding her of how he had looked, standing on the sidewalk while she battled his stupid robot.

She looked up at what little of the sky she could see from between the buildings. She could see a few faint stars beginning to appear in the darkening blue twilight . Of course, here in the city, it was lucky if you could ever see any stars at all. It didn't mean anything to her though, she was too absorbed in trying to sort out her feelings and decide how she felt, based on how she thought she _ought_ to feel.

She knew she had better get home. She sighed a little and grabbed a confused Huggy by the arm. Also, she swooped into the other alley to grab her box of Valentine's day chocolates.

~O~O~O~

My gosh, though, I love writing about them kissing.J This is where I would insert a rabid fangirl icon.

Thank you, reviewers. As for those of you who do not review, I demand that you do or else I'll make WordGirl and Scoops get together. So there.

Thanks for reading again and God bless, love, superstarwordgirl.


	6. chapter five

Hi there. I love you for loving my last chapter, seriously, you have no idea. It's great to have people like what I write.(:

~O~O~O~

CHAPTER FIVE~

Tobey wasn't in any hurry to get home and so he walked all of the way there with his head bent low and his fists in his pockets, glaring downward as he tried to ignore the way people were staring at him like they did as he made his way down the sidewalk. _Well, if they only knew, _he thought, but then changed his mind, because he doubted anyone would feel sorry for him. He was the bad guy after all.

He wasn't sure whether to be miserable and desolate or just livid. He didn't want to think about it.

The only bright side was that since he and his robot were leaving now with nothing having been destroyed, the police figured WordGirl had taken care of everything and was in control and they didn't get involved with him, not yet, at least. And even slightly better, no nosy person in a reporter's hat was chasing after him asking obnoxious questions. Tobey wasn't thinking about the bright side though.

When he got to the door of his home, the night was dark and cold, and he could only see by the lights that shined from outside of people's windows or came from the few and far between streetlamps in the neighborhood. On his doorstep he took a short moment from his miserable thoughts that he'd been unsuccessful in trying to put down and wondered why it seemed so dark and so shadowy-looking inside, looking in through he windows from outside.

He didn't want to go inside suddenly. Even though it was cold out and his fingers were stiff, it would be better to stand on the porch until he had the nerve to go it, even if that was well past midnight. He was sure his mother would be inside, and he wasn't up to facing her. He doubted she would be particularly happy after his long time period of mostly staying out of trouble only to get back into it again. So he just stood there.

But it only took a moment for him to think he'd been out in the cold enough already today and he figured it was better to go in now so the day could be over-with quicker. The sooner he got to bed the better.

As he entered the house, he felt like he was all by himself, because none of the lights were on and there was not a sound that he could hear. The rooms seemed so chilled and empty.

He wondered where his mother was. Maybe in her room, wondering what she was going to say to him _this_ time around. He wondered if she was even here and maybe he was creeping about silently for no reason.

Wherever she was, he was going to avoid meeting her and sneak quietly to his room so he could go to bed, and let everything just rain down on him in the morning. The dull aching in his chest made him too weary to be able to handle anything more. He knew that he was wrong. He desperately wanted to avoid being yelled at about it; especially now. And despite the fact that he'd been decidedly troublesome today he thought he deserved to get to be alone for just a little bit before he had to get in trouble. Just because of what had happened with WordGirl.

He could feel fresh resentment rising up at the thought of her. Instead of lingering on _that_, though, he directed his thoughts back to getting in trouble.

He knew things were going to be serious this time. They had all thought he had outgrown that nonsense. Well, they'd been wrong.

He just let out his breath and turned the knob of his door and quietly opened it, then entered his bedroom.

Once the door was closed behind him, he dared to turn on the light. After the darkness, everything seemed too bright. He blinked for a moment, then sighed.

Of course, the room looked the same as it always did lately: perfectly organized and neat; and looking at it made him sad, somehow.

He thought it was odd that the clean room gave him such a melancholy feeling. When _other _matters in his life seemed quite awry at the moment, a disorderly room seemed unlikely as something to make him feel better. But somehow he wished he could see stuff tossed around. A clutter of wrenches, wires, and metal sheets on the desk, clothes on the floor, the closet wide open to show disorganization. Instead, the blankets on the bed were smooth without any wrinkles and even the carpet had just been vacuumed, probably by his mother while he'd been at school. The closet door was closed and he knew that behind it, everything was hung up or stacked neatly, and this just bothered him.

With another sigh, he walked over to his bed, and threw himself down on it tiredly. He felt so empty and heavy at the same time.

At first he just tried to stick with the thoughts that it just wasn't fair, and think up everyone who was to blame for the way he was feeling. He couldn't believe WordGirl's nerve. She ought to be at least a _little_ less cruel than that to him, considering she obviously knew he'd always been in love with her. But no, she couldn't even do that. He spent some time thinking about that before he gave up and just felt sorry. Sorry for what, he did not know. But he certainly wasn't angry enough at her to keep from feeling that he still needed her.

He closed his eyes and thought back to the moment after she'd pushed him away from herself, when he'd stood up, and then walked away. He had wanted to turn around and tell her he loved her, for real. Too bad he had been so inconveniently stricken speechless at that moment.

Maybe she didn't take him so seriously, but _he _was serious. Even when she rolled her eyes and turned away from him when his hands seemed to close to reaching out and taking hers. Even when she accused him of causing trouble when he was being good. Even when she flew away from him every time as if she couldn't care less and he was just another villain to her. He was in love with her.

But he'd never felt so uncertain as he had in that moment; all of the assurance he'd had in himself had gone away, and he hadn't had much faith in her then, either, considering. So, now what? There was nothing else. Just loneliness.

As he lay staring at the ceiling, he noticed that he could feel a lump under his shoulder. It bugged him but he felt too lazy to do anything about it, whatever it was. Some time went by with him still staring at the ceiling trying to ignore it when finally he got so annoyed that he reached over and pulled it out from under his shoulder.

It was Walk-and-Talk WordGirl, of course. He should've known. He held her up above himself, examining her for a moment.

The eyes were nothing like her real eyes. And the doll was thick-waisted. He felt like tossing it away, but instead he just reached down over the edge of the bed and carefully set it on the floor where he couldn't see it.

He stopped trying pretend things weren't that bad and let himself become overwhelmed in self-pity. Everything was going all wrong now. There were so many things that seemed to weight down on him. Life the way it always had been was getting to wear thin; he couldn't help but think he didn't like going places and being seen as that stuck-up, evil boy-genius who built robots so much these days. It didn't matter that it had been a while since the last time he'd purposely done anything _very _bad, that's what he was to everyone else. There was stuff on TV about it and everything, after all. Even though other people's opinions were the least of his concerns at this moment, he couldn't help lingering on them when they crossed his mind now. It was probably because of all this that WordGirl had said it was wrong and wouldn't be with him, he thought.

Was he really that bad after all? He didn't want to be; it had been so long since the last time he'd cheated to win so he wouldn't look like a loser, so long since he'd last insulted anyone when they all seemed like such dolts. So long since he'd done something wrong intentionally after thinking it through and knowing it was no good. Those days had been over-with long ago; once he reached a certain age, the only thing left that he kept at was bringing robots out to the city.

He didn't consider bringing out robots as fitting into that category of the rotten things he'd done as a kid, since he had always assumed nothing bad would happen and that his intentions weren't sinister. But he had been wrong, because something bad had _almost_ happened, and she didn't even love him, it turned out.

He didn't know why, he'd always thought, in her way, she did like him. But he guessed not.

He thought about her now.

Thinking back, she suddenly didn't seem as strong and confident as she always had; instead, he pictured her face when she couldn't look at him because she'd kissed him and then pushed him away. She hadn't seemed so sure of herself at all. For a brief moment of wishful thinking, he considered the idea of there still being hope for the two of them, that maybe despite herself, she _did _like him, but then he figured it was nonsense. If she liked him, why would she push him away? Because he was bad, that was why.

Or maybe because she still liked that reporter-kid who'd never appreciated her like he should've.

He looked down at Walk-and-Talk WordGirl on the floor.

He hated this. It was cutting into him like a knife.

It had been such a long time since the last time he'd felt like crying. He had hated the feeling then, and hated it more now. But it couldn't exactly be helped, because nothing was working out like he'd planned and he was staring to think it was all his fault. When she had been held closely in his arms and his lips had been against hers, he'd felt okay for the first time these days, like everything was going to be alright from now on. He'd thought maybe anything else didn't really matter anymore.

But unfortunately, he thought, it couldn't just be that easy.

~O~O~O~

So another chapter, yeah. Do please review like you all so sweetly have been!

Thanks again. Love you, love you, love you and God bless. ~ superstarwordgirl


	7. chapter six

Hey. Hope things aren't too dismal for you, dearest readers. If so, I can't say I'm sorry becuase I have to write what I think needs to be written. The story lightens up soon enough and then you'll thank me.:)

So. If you don't like how the story is going, it's simple: don't read it.

~O~O~O~

Becky looked down at the food heaped on her plate but she felt too tired to eat.

She was sitting at the dining room table with her family, having a late dinner, and she desperately wanted to crawl into bed at the moment. Her head ached a little and she was sore, but she had hardly been injured by the incident with the robot. She was fine, just exhausted.

And still shaken from kissing Tobey.

Her mind was completely consumed with thoughts about it. She could scarcely begin to comprehend the moment, despite the many and constant different thoughts and theories on it, on herself, and on him. She wasn't sure whether she ought to be shocked with herself, or try and understand this.

She recalled having sensed that something was different now as she had let him walk away. So instead of contemplating her heart she wondered if there was going to be more trouble now. Maybe Tobey would bring out that super-robot again, except this time maybe he really _would_ try to destroy her. The thought was more of a self-distraction than something she even considered to be likely, yet she went on with the idea. She could already imagine it. It was rather dark, but it was better than trying to figure out what had been going on in her mind that had possessed her to let him kiss her. Certainly a much safer thing to think about.

"Becky!" her dad said in his usual chipper voice.

Her head jerked up and she prayed parents couldn't really see what their kids were thinking about in a thought bubble above their heads. Sometimes she still worried about that.

"What!" she blurted out.

Her dad didn't notice her edginess. "How was your day today?" he asked with a grin.

She glanced around. She heard TJ mutter, "Probably so boring you'll be sorry you asked . . ." and Bob shot him a dirty look in her defense.

"Oh, it was fine," she said, taking her fork and picking up some of the green beans off of her plate. "Same old-same old."

"Well, that sounds exciting, honey!" Mrs. Botsford exclaimed.

"No it doesn't." said TJ. "What _might _be exciting as if you told us about that giant heart-shaped box you came home with. I repeat, _might_. And by the way, I'm gonna be wanting some of that chocolate."

"That _does _sound exciting!" her mother said, smiling with a raised eyebrow as Becky scowled at her brother. Mrs. Botsford asked, "Who's giving you early valentines, Becky?"

"Ugh, you have a boyfriend?" TJ moaned. "Gross."

"Becky has a boyfriend?" Mr. Botsford exclaimed with horror, instantly thinking of that Ming kid.

"_No_." Becky said firmly. "Violet and Scoops and I just felt like buying a box of chocolate to share and I got to bring what was left home." She was pleased she'd been able to answer so level-headedly. At TJ's outcry of "You have a boyfriend?", her mind was now stuck like a broken record on the thought that usually when a girl and boy kissed each other, they were suddenly girlfriend and boyfriend. Didn't always work that way, she learned.

"Oh, well that was nice for all of you," Mrs. Botsford said. She asked, "And how was your day, TJ?", already turning to the next kid, like clockwork, the same way the family started a conversation every night at the dinner table.

"Fine." TJ said. "Apparently I'm a math whiz. The teacher said he was going to see about moving me up a level in it and he'd talk to you or whatever." He said casually it as if it was no big deal and meant nothing to him, but Becky knew he was proud of himself and just acting cool. She rolled her eyes, even though she was impressed and proud of her brother, too.

Their parents beamed. "We're very proud of you, TJ!" Mr. Botsford said. "Math! What a fun subject!"

"Yes, very!" Mrs. Botsford said. "And to think my son is a math-_genius_!"

"You mean _our _son," Mr. Botsford said, grinning at his wife.

"Yes, our son," she returned with a smile.

"I guess it's pretty cool," TJ said. He smiled too.

Bob let out a screak with a fed up look on his face.

"Oh, you never asked Bob how his day was," Becky said interpretively.

"Oh, sorry, there, Bob," Mr. Botsford chuckled. "I couldn't see you there behind that giant bowl of mashed potatoes and lobster! How was your day?"

Bob chattered a rather lengthy answer, then shoved a bunch of food in his mouth.

"He says it was a good day," Becky said, which was just the short version of what Bob had said.

"Well, I'm glad," Becky's mom said. "_My _day went well. We've almost wrapped up the Whammer case and he'll be well on his way to the slammer by the end of the week!" Her voice was enthusiastic.

"That's great, hon," Mr. Botsford said. "How are you, Becky? You've hardly touched your food. I didn't hide any Beans a la Botsford in that squash, if that's what you're afraid of," He winked with a chuckle.

"Oh, I'm fine," she said quickly. "Just a little tired. You know, busy day. Mondays are always tiring."

"Well, isn't that true!" Mr. Botsford said. "I wore myself out completely using the new code-cracking kit I got in the mail today!"

"Code-cracking kit? Awesome!" TJ exclaimed. "Can I use it?"

"May I," Becky murmured.

"I don't see why we can't pull it out after dinner," Mr. Botsford said, then winked again. "See if we can _crack_ some _codes_!"

TJ, Bob and Mrs. Botsford laughed. Becky just smiled.

Through this all, she was feeling more invisible, like she was watching her family eat dinner together from outside of the circle of light that shone down on them from the ceiling chandelier. Even though she was included in their conversation, she felt as if she was really elsewhere. Somewhere like maybe back in that dark, shadowy alley, leaned against a dumpster, her body aching; but in her mind, maybe instead of feeling the cold and all of the troubles around her she just felt Tobey's arms, and, maybe, she did not push him away.

~O~O~O~

At midnight, her mind was still wide-awake with such ideas, because she had stopped trying to avoid them. There was no sense putting off her emotions, no more pretending; and this required her to face the truth: Tobey was more to her than just a robot-building boy-genius. She knew there was no other explanation for how out-of-line she'd been today.

She found herself blushing to realize that thinking about him kissing her made her breath catch and a flood of shivery feelings overcome her. She thought about it, and decided there was no word to perfectly describe the incredulity of kissing. Perhaps many words put together could well-enough paint the picture, but then there would be too many details that would take away from the simplicity of it, that it was just a kiss. All she knew was that it was nothing she'd ever felt before. The more she contemplated it, the more she felt like she was uncovering some kind of magic, and the more she let herself wonder if it might have been something she had secretly wanted but never would have let herself consider.

And it made her wish it hadn't ended like it had.

She looked out her window now. The streetlamp was glowing across the street, its blue light shining on the tiny snowflakes that were falling like glitter in the air, making a circle of sprinkling snow where the light shined. She remembered how the moment had ended; that ending had been in her hands. She had pushed him away. That was the part that was _really_ stuck in her head.

Was he thinking about her right now? Maybe sitting around trying to nurture his wounded pride, wondering resentfully how she could have the nerve to push him away, and already planning on bringing out that robot again, this time with a vengeance? Or was it possible she'd actually broken his heart and he just didn't know what to do?

After she'd said that it was wrong, she had been expecting him to demand a reason in that Tobey-ish way of his, and she had been taken by surprise that he hadn't. Why hadn't he? Did it have something to do with why he hadn't attacked the city with robots in a while? Not that she had _missed _that, of course; there was absolutely, unquestionably no way of _that _possibility. None at all. She thought about it a moment just to make for certain. Then she sighed.

She just wished she could take back that moment. Not just meaning when she'd pushed him away, but the entire incident. She had let him kiss her. She could've stopped him if she'd wanted. Even worse, she had kissed him back, only to wonder if she'd gone crazy and then end it all so awkwardly. She should've flown away to smash that robot to pieces the moment she knew she was okay.

Then at least she wouldn't feel like something had come to an end between them. That was how she felt now, and it was making her feel this regret.

She had no business being that way with him. She had her place, he had his. He'd established those places himself by being who he was, anyway. No one made him build robots and bring them out into the city. No one had made him act so devious when they were younger. It was all his own doing. And whatever his purpose was, it was still bad. She did not belong with someone bad.

She considered this.

Somehow, those thoughts no longer satisfied her. She needed something more to convince herself that she was right about this. Tobey was not all-bad. She knew very well he didn't do those things because he honestly had some mad love for knocking down buildings. She also knew she could've been different towards him during those fleeting moments when they had no reason to fight and he was trying to be sweet.

And _maybe_, if somebody really _did_ know she had liked somebody else a little all along, that somebody didn't have to have been so set on keeping her distance . . .

But he was a _villain_. He was wrong.

These thoughts were getting her nowhere. She had wondered and sifted through them until she was wide-awake and wouldn't be able to fall asleep for a long, long time, tired as she was. Her mind was too active and her emotions were a confused mess caught in between what might be true and what seemed to be not right. It didn't seem like the kind of muddle that would appear better after a good night's sleep.

Becky just closed her eyes now, too tired for more, and she thought to herself that if this was a movie, she wouldn't have pushed him away _. . ._

~O~O~O~

Thank you again, reviewers!

If you don't like how the story is turning out, don't tell me and don't read it. I will say again, things get peachier though soon enough.

As always, God bless, and I'll try to update soon!J

~superstarwordgirl


End file.
